Sir Garth Pancake
]] Sir Garth Pancake (1854-1914) (born as Jack Simmons) was an eccentric figure and adventurer of minor importance to the history of Kings. He is best known for his mining expedition to Deluded Rock in 1892, were he hoped to find gold. Not much is known about Sir Pancake and a lot of rumors surround his person. Some consider him to be a great hero and pioneer while others rejected his stories as those of a madman. Pancake had made many contradictory statements during his life which gave him the nickname 'Obscure Garth'. Biography As stated in his act of birth, Sir Garth Pancake was born in 1854 as Jack Simmons though for some reason he always claimed to be born in 1856. He grew up in his home country New Zealand, living with his uncle and aunt on their farm. People who knew him as a kid described him as a boy full of good intentions and a lot of phantasy. At the age of nineteen he changed his name to Garth Pancake and insisted to be addressed as 'sir'. Soon after his name change he emigrated to Lovia because he wanted to 'look for adventure and fortune'. Upon his arrival in what he deemed to be 'the new promised country' he immediately became notorious with the public. He decided to settle in the forests near Newhaven where he build a tree hut and hunted his own food. When he was charged for poaching he defended himself before court with little success. He was convicted to a month of communal service to help his integration in society. This turned out to be contra productive since he fled in the Grandforest Hills not to be seen for six years. It was assumed that Pancake had died in an attempt to maintain himself in the wild. In 1891 he however returned, seemingly unharmed by the harsh conditions under which one expects to live in nature. He told a spectacular story of his survival involving a gold vein near Deluded Rock. One year later, in 1892, he and some people in dire need of money organized a mining expedition to the mountain. Of course, as geologists already had pointed out, there is no gold or any precious metal on the entire island. Of the six expedition members only Sir Pancake returned. He had once more a fabulous tale of how they found gold and the others gave their live in an attempt to stop the mine from collapsing. Of course this attempt had failed and Sir Pancake had no idea of where this mine was situated. Several rumors started that Pancake had gone mad and killed his companions to keep his mistake silent, though this was never proven. Pancakes mental condition severely worsened and he started to rave about. Pancake was locked away in a mental institution were he would speak of 'the great gold' and 'mountain water'. In 1912, at the age of 57, he was allowed to live on an isolated farm at the edge of Newhaven since he was no longer regarded a threat to society. Though clearly not cured, he had become much more quiet in the latter years of his live. He never stopped lying about his life and lived in his own phantasy world. In 1917 some charity workers took Pancake for a trip to his beloved rock of which he jumped to his death in a moment of delusion. Reputation Even today some people still defend Garth Pancake as a role model. They believe him to be an outcast; a simple man who didn't understand society and rejected it, only to be rejected by society in return. Others are attracted to Pancake's need for adventure and the simple way of living he handled during the free years of his life. Most people however see him as a victim of his own phantasy. Several medical specialists have attempted to diagnose Sir Pancake, during his live as well as after his death. The most common aspects of his tragedy are the absence of a separation between his wishes and reality and the persistent attachment to wrong beliefs. This has lead to the diagnosis of him suffering from schizophrenia. Though this sounds likely, the diagnosis is so easy to make that it almost loses its value. No-one doubts the good intentions Sir Pancake must have had, but he nonetheless did wrong along the way. See also * Deluded Rock * Kings Category:Adventurer Category:Person